Jewellery item including spherical elements

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a jewelry item including several spherical or near-spherical elements (hereinafter spherical elements) in which each spherical element ( 1 ) includes at least one bore ( 2 ) and is connected to at least one adjacent spherical element ( 1 ). The assembly of two adjacent spherical elements ( 1 ) is carried out using a rod ( 3 ) inserted on either side into the corresponding bore ( 2 ) of each spherical element ( 1 ). A plurality of spherical elements ( 1 ) each include at least two bores ( 2 ), wherein the axis of each bore ( 2 ) extends radially relative to the centre of the spherical element ( 1 ). The spatial positioning of adjacent spherical elements ( 1 ) on either side of a common spherical element ( 1 ) is achieved by the angular orientation in space of the bores ( 2 ) relative to each other. The assembly of each adjacent spherical element ( 1 ) to the common spherical element ( 1 ) is achieved by inserting or screwing each rod ( 3 ) on either side into the corresponding bores ( 2 ). Each adjacent spherical element ( 1 ) can be a spherical element ( 1 ) that is common to one or more other adjacent spherical elements ( 1 ). The assembly of all spherical elements ( 1 ) gives a jewelry item having a desired shape.

The present invention relates to the field of jewelry, more particularlyto a jewelry item having a number of spherical or almost sphericalelements (hereinafter “spherical elements”), each spherical elementbeing joined to at least one other adjacent spherical element by way ofa rod.

A number of jewelry items having a plurality of spherical elements, suchas pearls, joined together by various means are already part of theprior art.

The publication JP7303507 discloses a necklace having a number ofpearls, some of which have through-holes which pass approximatelythrough the center of the pearl. The pearls are arranged in relation toone another by way of at least one more or less rigid element in theform of a ring.

The publication WO2005055756 for its part discloses in particular ajewelry item having a joining system which consists in linking a numberof juxtaposed spherical elements held together by means of rods passingthrough bores. Each rod has a coil spring arranged so that thejuxtaposed spherical elements can be moved apart under the action of aforce.

One of the disadvantages of the joining methods disclosed in thesedocuments results from the fact that the mutual positioning of thespherical elements is spatially limited. Consequently, the forms thatcan be obtained are relatively restricted.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide a jewelry item composedof a number of essentially spherical elements, the mutual spatialpositioning of said elements being entirely controlled in order toobtain the desired form.

In accordance with the invention, this aim is achieved by virtue of ajewelry item as claimed in claim 1, having a number of spherical oralmost spherical elements (hereinafter “spherical elements”). Eachspherical element has at least one bore and is designed to be secured toat least one adjacent spherical element. Two adjacent spherical elementsare joined together by means of a rod which is inserted on either sideinto the corresponding bore of each spherical element. A number ofspherical elements each have at least two bores, the axis of each borebeing oriented radially with respect to the center of the sphericalelement. The adjacent spherical elements are positioned spatially oneither side of a common spherical element by way of the mutual angularspatial orientation of the bores. Each adjacent spherical element isjoined to the common spherical element by driving, adhesively bonding orscrewing each rod on either side into the corresponding bores. Eachadjacent spherical element can constitute a common spherical element forone or more other adjacent spherical elements. The joining of all thespherical elements gives a jewelry item of a desired form.

The features of the invention will become more clearly apparent fromreading the description of a number of embodiments of the joiningconcept, said embodiments being given solely by way of example and beingnonlimiting, with reference to the schematic figures, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a front view of a jewelry item having a number of sphericalelements;

FIG. 2 shows a sectional view along the line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a main spherical element around whichare arranged, by way of rods, a number of spherical elements havingsmaller diameters;

FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of FIG. 3 at a different angle; and

FIG. 5 shows a sectional view along the line A-A in FIG. 4.

According to one of the embodiments of the invention illustrated inFIGS. 1 and 2, the jewelry item comprises a number of spherical elements(1) of variable dimensions. These spherical elements (1) are heldsecured to one another by way of rods (3), each rod (3) being driven oneither side into the corresponding bore (2) of each element (1).

Each bore (2) is produced such that its axis is oriented radially towardthe center of the spherical element (1). The mutual spatial positioningof the spherical elements (1) is thus determined by the mutual angularspatial orientation of the bores (2) of each spherical element (1). Inthis embodiment, the orientation of the bores (2) has been determinedsuch that all the spherical elements (1) are positioned on a singleplane.

The length of the rod (3) and the depth of the bores (2) are determinedin order to position two spherical elements (1) side by side or at acertain distance from one another. In the present embodiment, the depthof the bores (2) represents around half the radius of the sphericalelement (1), the length of each rod (3) having been determined in orderto have a certain clearance between each element (1).

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrate another example of the joining conceptfeaturing a main spherical element (1′) which has a large number ofbores (2), the respective axes of which are oriented radially withrespect to the center of this main element (1′). The peripheralspherical elements (4) which have smaller diameters may have athrough-bore (2) passing through their centers. One of the ends of therod (3) may thus be housed in one or more other spherical elements (notshown) arranged on a radial axis to the main spherical element (1′) butseparated by at least one peripheral spherical element (4).

It is obvious from reading the description and in the light of thefigures relating thereto that the invention is not limited to theembodiments described hereinabove by way of example, but on the contraryincludes any embodiment variants, the invention residing mainly in themutual angular orientation of each bore made in each spherical elementin order to obtain, after joining all the spherical elements, theresulting jewelry item.

Thus, each spherical element may have one to a large number of bores sothat one to a large number of spherical elements can be positioned sideby side with a common spherical element.

Moreover, what is called the spherical element may have an imperfectform called an almost spherical form. This is the case when pearls arethe spherical elements, pearls almost never having a perfectly sphericalform. An almost spherical element is also understood to be a sphericalelement having a large number of facets.

The spherical element may just as easily be a semiprecious stone. Thus,the jewelry item may, for example, be composed of semiprecious stonesalternating with pearls.

In another embodiment, each bore may have an internal thread and eachrod an external thread on either side in order that two adjacent pearlscan be screwed together. Adhesively bonding the rod inside the bores mayrepresent another way of joining the spherical elements.

Finally, the rod, intended to secure two adjacent spherical elementstogether, may conceivably be flexible in order to give the jewelry itema certain elasticity.

1. A jewelry item having a number of spherical or almost sphericalelements (1) (hereinafter spherical elements), where each sphericalelement (1) has at least one bore (2), the cross section of whichremains constant along its longitudinal axis, and is arranged secured toat least one adjacent spherical element (1), two adjacent sphericalelements (1) being joined together by means of a rod (3, inserted oneither side into the corresponding bore (2) of each spherical element(1) and of which the ends intended to be arranged in the correspondingbore (2) have a constant cross section along the longitudinal axis ofthe rod (3), characterized in that a number of spherical elements (1)each have at least two blind bores (2), at least two blind bores (2) ofat least one spherical element (1) having one of the ends of acorresponding rod (3) driven into or adhesively bonded to them, thelongitudinal axis of each bore (2) being oriented radially with respectto the center of the spherical element (1), the adjacent sphericalelements (1) being spatially positioned on either side of a commonspherical element (1) by the mutual angular spatial orientation of thebores (2), each adjacent spherical element (1) being joined to a commonspherical element (1) by driving or adhesively bonding each rod (3) oneither side into the corresponding bores (2), it being possible for eachadjacent spherical element (1) which has at least two blind bores (2) toconstitute a common spherical element (1) for one or more other adjacentspherical elements (1), the joining of all the spherical elements (1)giving a jewelry item of a desired form.
 2. The jewelry item as claimedin claim 1, characterized in that the depth of each bore (2) is lessthan or equal to the radius of the spherical element (1), the length ofthe rod (3) being determined such that the two adjacent sphericalelements (1) are side by side.
 3. The jewelry item as claimed in claim1, characterized in that at least one of the spherical elements (1)(hereinafter main spherical element (1′)) has a large number of bores(2) so that a large number of spherical elements (4) (hereinafterperipheral spherical elements) can be arranged around the periphery ofthe main spherical element (1′).
 4. The jewelry item as claimed in claim3, characterized in that it further includes at least one peripheralspherical element (4) having a substantially smaller diameter than thediameter of the main spherical element (1′), said peripheral sphericalelement (4) having a through-bore (2) passing through its center.
 5. Thejewelry item as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that two adjacentspherical elements (1) are joined together by driving said rod (3) intothe corresponding bore (2) of each spherical element (1).
 6. (canceled)7. The jewelry item as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that atleast one spherical element (1, 1′, 4) is a pearl.
 8. The jewelry itemas claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least one sphericalelement (1, 1′, 4) is a semiprecious stone.
 9. The jewelry item asclaimed in claim 1, characterized in that it comprises at least onealmost spherical element (1, 1′, 4) having a large number of facets. 10.The jewelry item as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it furtherincludes at least one spherical element (1) having a single blind bore(2).